The 39th meeting of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) in Brussels has thrown its support behind the Sea Traffic Management (STM) e-Navigation programme, recommending further testing of the systems developed by the project in the Baltic Sea.

A new initiative to create an open source digital platform for the creation of ‘digital twins’ for ships has been launched, with a ceremony at the Norwegian Maritime Competence Centre in Ålesund, Norway.

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has published a new edition of ADMIRALTY Ocean Passages for the World (NP136), incorporating information on the world’s busiest trade routes, and routes of increasing importance due to shifting macroeconomic trends, based on analysis of global AIS tracking data.

Rolls-Royce has introduced a new system to improve situational awareness for navigators operating vessels at night, in adverse weather conditions or in congested waterways, which works by fusing sensor data with intelligent software to provide bridge crews with a more detailed understanding of events unfolding around them than what would be possible with the naked eye.

Danelec Marine and NAPA are to work together in the development of a new Cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) system for ship performance analysis and optimisation, combining Danelec’s shipboard data collection and transfer platform, developed alongside its voyage data recorder (VDR) equipment, with NAPA’s analytics software.

20|20 Marine Energy and BunkerMetric have jointly announced the launch of a new predictive analysis tool to allow shipping companies to calculate the financial and operational impact of the impending MARPOL Annex VI global 0.5 per cent sulphur cap, which comes into force on January 1, 2020.

Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have signed a new agreement to integrate a range of intelligent ship systems, from the engine room to the bridge, to improve vessel performance.